Friday, May 01, 2009

He Is Not Silent

One of the “give-aways” at the Gospel Coalition last week was Al Mohler’s He Is Not Silent. It is a book about preaching, and it is excellent. I’m about halfway through it now. Here are a few gems:

The power of the Word of God, spoken through the human voice, is seen in the Bible’s unique power to penetrate all dimensions of the human personality.

Any consideration of Christian preaching must begin with the realization that preaching is essentially an act of worship.

A Major portion of Christendom is spiritually starved – and sound, biblical preaching has become an extremely rare commodity.

True preaching is never an exhibition of the brilliance or intellect of the preacher but an exposition of the wisdom and power of God.

This kind of humility in preaching is possible only when the preacher stands in submission to the text of Scripture.

When we say “preach”… what we mean is, very simply, reading the text and explaining it – reproving, rebuking, exhorting, and patiently teaching directly from the text of Scripture. If you are not doing that, then you are not preaching.

If the Bible is truly the enduring and eternal Word of God, it means what it meant even as it is newly applied in every generation.

Expository preaching demands a very different set of questions: Will I obey the Word of God? How must my thinking be realigned by Scripture? How must I change my behavior to be fully obedient to the Word?